You Never Knew
by sesshy's-stalker
Summary: The Hokage dies and its not Tsunade or Naruto. Sasuke comes back with a family. And Gaara has a score to settle.
1. October Mourning

**You Never Knew**

**by**

**Sesshy's-Stalker**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N:**I'm trying my hand at something new. I've never done angsty or tragedy before so I hope this is good and I hope you like it. Please review, but don't flame me, I don't like flames.

**Chapter 1:October Mourning**

He walked down the familiar road he use to use.

She walked down this new road, following him, carrying their son.

As they drew nearer to the once familiar gate, she grabbed onto his arm, ballancing the baby on her hip. Once at the gate they were stopped by ninja, who instantly recognized the man. All of a sudden they jumped him tying him up with chakra draining rope. The woman screams, the baby cries, and the ninja call in for reinforcements. The commotion draws the attention of passersby aswell as the attention of the recently appointed Hokage.

"What the hell is going on here!" yelled the Hokage seizing all noise and movement on the street.

The ninja move aside showing their Hokage the now tied up prisoner. Instant recognition dawns upon the Hokages face as he lays eyes on the kneeling man.

" S-Sa-Sasuke?"

"Nice to see you too, Naruto...I'd give you a hug to congradulate you, but I'm a bit tied up at the moment, heh." said Sasuke looking up to a newer, slightly handsomer, and definitly taller Naruto. " I'd like to say the same, but I don't think it would be appropriate at the moment." said Naruto mentioning to all the pink and white decorations hanging up everywhere. In fact all Konoha seemed to be decked out in pink and white, though more white than anything else.

" Is it some sort of spring time celebration or something because last time I checked it's October and these aren't fall colors." said Sasuke standing up. Naruto watched his every move like a hawk as though waiting for some sort of attack from his former teammate and sertigate brother. Sasuke also saw Naruto watching his every step and felt sort of betrayed he didn't trust him like he used to.

" No Sasuke, we aren't celebrating. We are mourning the anniversery of the death of our recently departed Hokage and her untimely death." said Naruto in the most serious tone he's ever used.

"So, Tsunade-sama died?" asked Sasuke.

"No, not Tsunade."

"Then who?"

"...Sakura."


	2. What Did You Expect?

**You Never Knew**

**by**

**Sesshy's-Stalker**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N: **Sorry about the really long delay, but since summer vacation is about to start I'll be updating my stories more frequently, ok. So please read and review, no flames, ok?

**Chapter 2: What Did You Expect?**

Sasuke stared at Naruto in shock.

"How could this have happened?"..."Who did this?" ..."Why didn't you protect her!"

These were the qusetions that came flying out of Sasuke as soon as he recovered from his shock.

"I will explain all in due time, but first there are some important matters we need to discuss, like your punishment. Come with me, and bring your...family" commanded Naruto as he turned around and walked a few steps before poofing to the Hokage Tower.

Sasuke, still tied up, was lead by the ANBU to the tower, followed by his family.

-------------------------------------

Sasuke stepped into Naruto's office where he found Naruto sitting behind a desk overflowing with papers, files, documents, and other such papers. He was slightly pissed off that he was still tied up.

"Naruto, seeing as I'm too preoccupied to even want to attack you, can you untie me!"

"All right, fine, but your family has to wait outside and the ANBU stay."

"Fine."

"But Sasuke..." started his ignored wife, only to be interrupted by Sasuke" It's fine, Miyuki, just wait outside and be patient."

"All right." With that Miyuki and her son went out the door, leaving Naruto, Sasuke, and 6 ANBU members in the Hokage's office.

The door closed and the interregation began.

-------------------------------------

Sasuke sat infront of Naruto's desk, and looked through the giant window behind it. There he had a clear view of the Hokage's Monument Statue where he saw Tsunade the Fifth carved in next to the Forth and next to her was...Sakura the Sixth. It was breathtaking to see her face, which he noticed had matured greatly, on such a monumental site, it seemed surreal. He couldn't take it anymore.

"Please Naruto, tell me what happened."

Naruto sighed, and began "Fine, but it's not an easy story to tell and I'm not sure I'm the best person qualified to tell it to you. Though the only person who knows the entire story will be more than a little reluctant to tell you. I can tell you some of it, mainly of the early years a little after you left, but after that you must ask this person for the rest, and I'm not so sure they'll even tell you."

_Flashback_

_the 1st month_

_'Sasuke, please don't go...then take me with you...I love you!'...'Thank you'_

_Sakura sat on the bench where he left her, remembering and crying..._

_the 3rd month_

_Sakura sat on the bench where he left her, still remembering and still crying..._

_the 6th month_

_Sakura sat on the bench where he left her, still remembering, but no longer crying, too tired to cry anymore...too tired to do anything anymore..._

_---------_

_The day after_

_Sakura, instead of sitting on a bench, was laying down on a hospital bed in intensive care recovering from fatigue, depression, and malnutrition._

_Outside of the room was Tsunade looking in on her student through the observation window. It was so depresssing to see Sakura in such a state, she partly blamed herself for __Sakura's condition. Seeing as she was her student it was her responsibility to ensure her students safety, but she just ignored it, praying she would grow out of this phase and see that the crush she had on the Uchiha was just that, a crush. But instead things worsened, Sakura became even more depressed. She was always tired during her training session and often fell asleep while she was studying from the scrolls. On occasion she wouldn't even show up at all, and one time when she didn't show up she sent Naruto to look for her until he found her asleep on the bench where 'he' left her._

_After Naruto brought her home he barged into Tsunade's office claiming that 'when he found Sasuke he was going to beat him within an inch of his life for making Sakura suffer like this'. _

_And after what happened today Naruto, along with a couple people who didn't know this was going on were even more upset with the Uchiha. Though what upset her even more than the fact that her student was suffering, was the lack of response some of the people who claimed to be Sakura's friends showed, especially Kakashi. Now that she couldn't even begin to comprehend, Sakura was his student for heaven's sake, how could he be so indifferent about this. He hadn't even come to visit her, the only ones who had were Naruto, Lee, and herself._

_With one last look at her student Tsunade left and retired to her office, to try and figure a few things out. _

_-----------------_

_It was 2 month before Sakura as allowed to leave the hospital. She was definetly healthier physically but emotionally she was now just a shell of her former self, considering that her parents died on a mission a month ago. That bit of news is what broke her beyond repair. On the day she recieved the news, despite her progress, she had mental breakdown. Tsunade was reluctant to let her go home so soon but Sakura wouldn't listen to any reason and left the hospital anyway._

_For a whole week after that no one had seen or heard from her and Tsunade feared the worst. She, along with a couple medic-nin and ANBU, broke down Sakura's door. The seen inside made her stomach churn, the walls were covered in blood, well messages written in blood, most of them stating how much Sakura hated Sasuke and others, the most disturbing ones, were children's lullabies. Tsunade ran all over the house searching for Sakura, as did all the other ninja she brouhgt with her._

_Sakura was nowhere to be found and Tsunade was starting to panick._

_Suddenly the back door to Sakura's house opened and in came Sakura carrying a basket of flowers. She was dirty and covered in blood,scars, and open wounds, some of which were still bleeding, creating a small puddle under her. Sakura stared at the intruders in her house with a confused expresion and in a small childlike voice asked them, "Who are you? Are you here to see my 'kaa-san and 'tou-san?"_

_"Oh god!" said Tsunade before she engulfed Sakura in a hug and started crying._

_End of Flashback_

"After that Tsunade-baa-chan kept Sakura with her for about a year, no one ever saw her during that time. She wouldn't even let me, Lee, or Kakashi-sensei see her. Then one day she brought her out and invited me to dinner , we enjoyed ourselves, but then Tsunade said that the dinner was actually a going away party for Sakura because she was leaving for Suna the day after. She told me it was because life would be too hard for Sakura if she stayed her, she said it was only temporary and that eventually she would be back.

"So she left and stayed with Gaara the Kazekage and his family during her stay there. Something must have happened, I assume, because she came back better than ever. She was no longer so broken. What happened during that time I don't know, that's someting you'll have to ask..."

Just then the doors to the Hokage's office were torn down and sand was swirling everywhere. The angry intruder stepped into the office in slow primal steps. "Where is he? Where is that bastard Uchiha! I'm going to kill him for what he did to my Sakura!"

Naruto stared at the enraged trespasser as the ANBU readied themselves "...Gaara..."


	3. So What's Your Story?

**You Never Knew**

**by**

**Sesshy's-Stalker**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N: **Ok, so now I'm on vacation and all my time is yours, sorta. Well most of it, thank you to all of those who reviewed and thanks for not pointing out all of my spelling mistakes. So here's the new chapter, I hope you enjoy it, read and review, please.

**Chapter 3: So What's Your Story?**

The sand swirled around violently, knocking over any object that wasn't nailed down. The ANBU prepared for a battle as Naruto stood from his desk and walked up to Gaara. Sasuke stood from his chair aswell, walking behind Naruto until he stood next to him.

"Hello there Gaara, I assume you heard that Sasuke was back, right?" After Naruto said that the sand started to swirl around even more wildly. "Sasuke, I suggest you step back." said Naruto as he stepped closer to Gaara, who was almost foaming at the mouth with rage. When he stood directly in front of him performed a couple hand signs before he slapped a seal on Gaara's forhead over his love tattoo. Gaara's eyes grew wide as his pupils dialated, then he was caught by Naruto as he fell to the ground unconscious.

"Ok, now one of you take him away and leave him at his home, stay there with him until I come." He said referring to an ANBU member standing next to him. Once he handed Gaara over he went back to his desk. After that the ANBU poofed out of his office with Gaara.

"Well that was sure interesting, care to explain?" inquired Sasuke once the commotion died down. "I just put him under a supressing/sleeping jutsu, that's all." said Naruto casually as he laced his fingers under his chin, proping up his elbows with his arm rests.

"Now Sasuke, there's something I'd like to know. You arrive here in my village unannounced and uninvited, still a missing nin, with a family no less. You disturb the peace and agitate one of my closest friends to the point where I have to knock him out. And, you talk to me in such a way as to suggest that we are somehow friends, which is completely disrespectful by the way, since you are infact talking to 'The Hokage'. Now tell me why I shouldn't sentence you to the death after all the havoc you've ensued." After Naruto finished talking one of the ANBU snickered behind his hand. Sasuke stared at him with a face of disbelief.

" I didn't do anything wrong, well atleast not enough to earn me such an unjust punishment. You have to leat me explain myself!" demanded Sasuke.

"Fine, everyone get out!" he said referring to the ANBU. Once they were out the door he went back to Sasuke.

"Ok, now start explaining. Why did you leave and betray our village?"

"To gain power, and take revenge for my clan."

"Why did it take you so damn long to fufill your goal?"

"I needed to eliminate certain obstacles before I could completely accomplish my goal."

"And those obstacles were?"

"Orochimaru and anyone else who stood in my way."

"Did you fufill your goal?"

"Yes."

"Do you regret any part of it, Sasuke?" Naruto said in a softer voice, asking his friend, not the criminal.

"Every day of my life."Sasuke responded revealing the guilt he had to put up with for years. "I regret everything. I was such a fool. I wanted to kill my brother for revenge because I thought he murdered our clan for selfish reasons. But I couldn't have been farther from the truth.'

"Why, what was the real reason he killed them" said Naruto urging him on.

"He killed them because of me."

"WHAT! Why!"

"Before he died, he told me...

_Flashback_

_Sasuke had just delivered the final blow to Itachi. Sasuke walked over to his brother who was laying on the ground covered in his own blood, which had formed a puddle under him. "Why did you kill them Itachi, why did you murder our clan!" When he was next to him the expression on Itachi's face shocked him. It wasn't a look of hate or anger, but a look of relief and...pride._

_"I'm so proud of you nii-chan," he hadn't called him that in years, " I knew that one day you'd surpass me, I knew you'd prove everyone wrong, I knew you'd prove 'tou-san wrong."_

_What did he mean 'prove 'tou-san wrong', "What do you mean Itachi! Why did I prove him wrong!"_

_A look of saddness passed Itachi's face as he gazed at Sasuke," If you really want to know, I'll tell you. It's sad, but the truth is that you weren't wanted in our family, because you are a bastard. Our mother had an affair with my father's brother and you are the result of that affair. No one wanted you ,but my father took you in because of the love he had for our mother. That didn't mean he loved you, or even liked you by any means, but he took you in as his son to avoid the shame. But I loved you Sasuke because no matter what, you will always be my brother. Two days before I massacred the clan, I heard 'tou-san say that he could no longer take the shame and that he was going to kill you because some of the clan members had found out about your secret. I couldn't let them do that to you, so I murdered them to save you, Sasuke. I did it all for you, to keep you safe from the ridicule and shame, to keep you safe from 'tou-san."_

_By now Sasuke had tears running down his face," Bu-but why d-did you have t-to kill 'ka-kaa-san, too?"_

_Another look of saddness crossed Itachi's face,"When I was about to kill 'tou-san she got in the way, she tried to protect him and I couldn't stop myself in time. She was one of the things I regret and her horror filled face still haunts me, I'm sorry Sasuke."_

_With one last haggard breath Itachi coughed out some droplets of blood before his eyes lost their bloody red and returned to an empty black, then rolled into the back of his head before they closed for the last time._

_End of Flashback_

"...After he died I was too confused to return home, even though that's what I had originally planned. I took some time to figure things out and along the way I met Miyuki. She comforted me in my time of need and I'm greatful for that."

"Do you love her?" asked Naruto fearing the answer.

"Honestly,...no. She's a sweet, caring person with infinite patience, but I don't love her. I care for her dearly, but I could never love her." said Sasuke with a sigh.

"What about the child is it.." "Mine? Yes, it is. He was an unfortunate accident, but he is still my child and the beginnings of the restoration for the Uchiha clan. He may have been unplanned, but greatly appreciated. I never knew when I was going to begin my family and this is just the push my plan needed, I guess." Sasuke let out a sigh.

"Well your story was most interesting and I've decided not to kill you. Now tell your family to go to your previous home because you are coming with me." said Naruto as he got up and walked towards the office doors. Sasuke got up and followed Naruto. Outside the door, Miyuku ran up to Sasuke while holding their son.

"Miyuki, I want you to go to my home and stay there. Make sure Itachi-chan is safe." he said to his wife as she was led away by some ANBU to her new home.

"Itachi?" said Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

" I thought I'd honor him." with that they walked out the door.

-------------------------------------

"So, where are we going?" asked Sasuke as he walked next to Naruto.

"We're going to visit someone who is going to help us with Gaara."

"Who?"

"Kakashi..."


	4. Like Titans, huh?

**You Never Knew**

**by**

**Sesshy's-Stalker**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N: Ok so here's the new chapter. The last chapter wasn't the greatest so this one will be better, maybe. I don't really like typing fight scenes, so I'm making them vague, hope you enjoy it, read and review!**

**A/A/N:Someone asked how old everyone was, ok all of the Rookie nine are about 26(around that age), Kakashi is...40, wow.**

**Chapter 4:Like Titans, huh?**

' It got quite cloudy all of a sudden today. That's a bad omen if I ever saw one. I wonder what our 'Hokage' is up to right now. Oh well, might aswell catch up on some light reading.'

With that thought Kakashi pulled out his favored reading materiel.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

"Naruto, how is Kakashi going to help you with Gaara?" Naruto and Sasuke were walking down a dusty road leading to a grassy training ground. " Well, you remember that time he sealed up your cursed seal. Well it's something like that, but not as extreme. You see, ever since 'it' happened Gaara has lost control over himself quite a few times, so Kakashi has sort of become an expert in dealing with Gaara's 'outbursts'. Not that I couldn't deal with it alone its just wiser to have Kakashi do it."

As they came up to a tree Sasuke noticed his old sensei sitting against the tree reading a certain orange book. ' I guess old habits die hard.'

" Hey! Kakashi we need your help!" yelled Naruto to his former teacher who just ignored him and kept reading his book.

"Look Kakashi, I don't have time to deal with this right now. I know your still mad at me for what happened, but this problem involves Gaara so get off your fat ass and come help me!" Upon hearing Gaara's name Kakashi perked up, closed his book, and stood up.

"Ok let's go." and he started walking towards Gaara's current residence. Sasuke gave Naruto a questioning glance, but Naruto just shrugged him off and started following Kakashi down the road.

"...ok..." and then he also followed after Kakashi.

------------------------------------------------------------------

' This is all so strange. Naruto is the Hokage, Kakashi is acting like I'm not even here, Gaara is a raving lunatic, and Sakura...Sakura is gone. I've missed out on a lot and for what, some silly revenge plan that backfired on me. Oh boy Sasuke, you really are a screw up, heh.'

"Oi! Naruto, can you tell me what it was like when Sakura became the Hokage." Naruto and Sasuke walked next to each other a couple feet behind Kakashi. As soon as Kakashi heard Sakura's name he stopped and with his back still facing Naruto he said," Look Naruto I'll meet you over there, I'm going on ahead." Then he poofed away.

"What's wrong with him?" Naruto didn't look at him but just kept walking. " Well, Sakura is a sensitive subject for Kakashi. I've learned its best to not mention her around him, he can get a little testy. Do you remeber when I said that Kakashi is upset with me, well its because of Sakura."

"What are you talking about Naruto? Why is he so upset over Sakura? And how does it concern Sakura? Were they involved somehow?"

"Goddamn Sasuke, you ask a lot af questions, but I guess its only natural seeing as you've been gone for, what- 14 years? You sure as hell missed a lot of important things, haven't you? But fine, I'll answer your questions to the best of my abilities. Well as for Kakashi, it might surprise you, but he loved her...and it wasn't your typical teacher/student love.Atleast for him it wasn't . Its true that she didn't return his love or anything and I guess the rejection got to him. But he still loves her and he still can't cope with the loss of his love even though it wasn't returned. And he's helping us as a way to somehow express his love for her by protecting all that she held dear.

"Everytime Gaara has his 'episodes' Kakashi is always there to help as a way to make it up to Sakura, at least that's what I've gathered so far. I don't know how far Kakashi's love for Sakura runs, but she must have had a strong hold over him for Kakashi to put up with this for so long...but all of this is a story for another time. Now you wanted to know what it was like when Sakura was Hokage, right?"asked Naruto after avoiding the other questions.

"Mm-hmm." mummbled Sasuke still wondering how Kakashi had fallen in love with Sakura, though he knew it wasn't a hard thing to do and sometimes it couldn't be helped.

"Ok, but I'll have to tell you of the events that lead up to Sakura becoming Hokage, well lets see...a little after she got back from Suna, when she was like 16 I guess, there was an attack on Konoha by the Akastuki...

_Flashback_

_The night air was crisp as an ominous fog seeped onto the empty Konoha streets. The sleeping citizens unaware of the impending danger that would soon befall them. Some shinobi were in a light sleep, always prepared incase of attacks and some awake on guard duty or unable to sleep.Soon everything became eerily quite as if the whole city were holding its breath anticpating the next move that was to come. In a flash about 20 blurs sped through the Konoha streets into the heart of the city._

_---------------------------------------------------------------_

_"Shizune! Bring me more sake! These papers aren't going to sign themselves, you know!" yelled the Godaime Hokage to her assistant/apprentice while reading over some last minute papers for the night. "Jeeze! Tsunade-sama, why don't you just use coffee to perk you up instead of alcohol like normal people?" asked Shizune while bringing her sensei a tray full of sake bottles. "Because Shizune, if I had coffee I would actually be clear-headed enough to know what I'm reading and signing and this way I save time since I know I couldn't read them anyway... I think." _

_" That does't make any sense!" "Well that's the logic I've used and its always worked for me so far, so I'm stickin' to it."_

_" Right...ok!" And then Shizune left the Hokages office to get back to her work._

_Then the whole tower shook with a great tremor. There was a bright light and the smell of smoke drifted through the air."Tsunade-sama!" Shizune ran back to her sensei's office only to find that when she opened the door the whole office was gone. If she had taken another step into the room she would have fallen atleast 3 or 4 stories._

_"Tsunade! Where are you!" She ran back insde and down the stairs all the way to where the rubble that had once been the Hokage's office lay._

_---------------------------------------------------------------_

_" Ugg...What the hell!" Yelled Tsunade as she pushed her way through all the rubble and debris that had once been her office. As she stood she noticed that the major pain that she felt was from the spot where her arm had once been. Now she noticed that she was missing her entire left arm from the elbow down. She screamed bloody murder and clutched the arm stub to her body as she managed to calm down enough to search for her severed arm. Being the great medic-nin she was if she found her arm in time she would probably be able to reattach it. _

_Through pain and sobs she managed to find her arm only to see it had been mostly crushed under a giant fragment of concrete. There was no way she could manage to reattach it now, so she did the best she could to save what she had. She healed her arm so that the stub would stop gushing blood and then she tore her shirt into a makeshift bandage to mend to her arm._

_Then she heard Shizune screaming and saw her running up to her. When Shizune started inspecting her, she also noticed that she was covered from head to toe on cuts, scrapes, and bruises. "Tsunade-sama what happened? Are you ok?" asked a worried Shizune as she observed her mentor's missing arm. Then she started yelling frantically. Getting tired of all the damn yelling Tsunade slapped Shizune with the arm that had once been attached to her body, affectively leaving a bloody handprint on Shizune's face, which freaked her out even more._

_"Damnitt Shizune, shut the fuck up! You're not making this any better with all of your damn screaming!" ordered Tsunade to her pupil._

_By now all of the commotion had drawn an audiance of Konoha shinobi." Excuse us Hokage, but we are under attack right now." stated one of the ANBU members." Don't you think I know that by now! My freakin' arm just got blown off, I think that was a big warning sign that we're under attack! What I want to know is who is attacking us and what we're doing about it!" yelled the Hokage waving her severed arm around for emphasis. The ANBU winced as some of them were sprayed with blood from the Hokage's severed arm as she flung it in the air._

_"We have confirmed that the Akatsuki are attaking and most of our shinobi are already engaging them in battle." said the same ANBU as before._

_"Alright, now bring me Sakura and any of the rookie 9 and team Gai that you happen to find along the way while I look for a suitable temporary office!" commaned Tsunade as she started walking toward the Ninja Academy with Shizune following behind._

_"Hai!" and then the ANBU poofed away to search for Sakura._

_------------------------------------------------------------_

_Meenwhile in another part of the city many Akatsuki members were fighting against some of Konoha's elite shinobi, some of which included: Kakashi, Gai, Lee, Genma, Neji, Hinata, Hiashi, and other Hyuuga clan members, aswell as some members of the Akamichi, and Inuzuka clans and some other elite shinobi. The Konoha ninja were fighting hard, but it seemed that the Akatsuki had tha upper hand in this situation. It seemed as if the Akatsuki were prepared to fight these particullar ninja, they knew how to counter the Sharingan, the Byakugan, and the specific taijutsus and genjutsus familiar to some of the clan memebers and other ninja._

_In more simple terms the Konoha-nin were gettin' their asses handed to them by the Akatsuki. But even if it seemed that they were fightig a losing battle the Konoha-nin were proving themselves a worthy challange._

_----------------------------------------------------------------_

_The ANBU that was sent by the Hokage to retrieve Sakura was speeding across the rooftops dragging a half-asleep Sakura to the Ninja Academy followed by Naruto, Ino, Shikamaru, TenTen, and Shino. Upon ariving,Tsunade was there to meet them._

_"Were these the only ones you could find. Well its not much, but it'll do, I guess." With that Tsunade walked back into the building where there were many other shinobi gathered already. Among them were now Kakashi, Lee, Gai, Neji, Hinata, Kiba, Choji, and some other random ninja, who were all coverd in scratchs, wounds, and bleeding from various places._

_"Ok, I assembled you because you are the best and most capable in your own particular fields and we're going to need most of you to take down the Akatsuki," said the Hokage with confidence then added, less confidently ," or at least make them retreat."_

_" Well that was a real confidence booster." replied Kakashi to Tsunade's little speech, which ticked her off so she decked him. "Ok I'm going to need Sakura, Shikamaru, and Neji to stay with me. The rest of you will pair off with someone who you are capable of fighting alongside with, there is no room for mistakes here. I don't really care who you choose aslong as you complete the mission and come back alive, am I understood?" the shinobi paired off, responded "Hai!", and dispersed._

_---------------------------------------------------------------_

_Shizune, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Neji stayed behind awaiting further instructions from Tsunade. "What are you planning to do now, Tsunade-sensei?" asked Sakura, getting even more nervous by the minute. " Ok, Shikamaru, you are to stay with me at all times. Shizune and Sakura will round up as many medic-nin as possible and go into the battle areas and keep our shinobi going as long as we can. Those are your instructions for know, got it?" All of them nodded. Shizune and Sakura headed out to complete their mission.Neji and Shikamaru stayed behind to hear Tsunade's last instruction._

_"Neji, I have a special assignment for you. I have an ominous feeling I'm not going to get to see tomorrow's sunrise. If I don't make it, it is of upmost priority that you inform the future Hokage of her new status. Your mission is to protect the new Hokage by any means possible, do you accept? "_

_"Hai.."_

_---------------------------------------------------------------_

_The battles raged on and many lives were lost, some of who belonged to very notable people. The majority of the threat that had once been the Akatsuki was destroyed, some of the members had retreated, including Itachi. It was almost garunteed victory for Konoha. The only obsticle left was the mysterious Akatsuki leader, who was engaging in a battle with Tsunade, per her last request. Tsunade had fought long and hard along with the rest of her village, but this was her final moment and she knew it, so why not go out with a bang?_

_"Godaime Hokage, it's an honor to be the last one to fight you. I hope to not dissapoint." said the Akatsuki leader honestly. Even though he was the leader he had not come out of combat unscathed, and this would most likely be his last battle aswell. "The feelling is mutual, I assure you."_

_Both respective leaders got into their prefered stances, preparing to do battle. _

_----------------------------------------------------------------_

_The few who witnessed their final battle could have sworn it was like watching ancient titans clash. The final match did not dissapoint as both went down in a blaze of glory, delivering eachothers final blows simultaneously._

_----------------------------------------------------------------_

_Once news spread that the Hokage and the Akatsuki leader were both dead the village went into a frenzy of panick. Without their leader the village would fall into despair unless they found a competant new Hokage soon. Among the havoc a battered and bruised Neji calmly walked up to a distraught and confused Sakura. _

_He stopped before her. _

_Kneeled to her in a regal manor and in a composed voice asked._

_" What are your orders, Hokage-sama..."_


	5. Tagurohime

**You Never Knew**

**by**

**Sesshy's-Stalker**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N: Yayness! I love you all, mwah, mwah! Here's the new chapter, because I love you. I hope you enjoy it, read and and review! and also I'm super sorry about the mando long delay, I mean like I'm really really sorry, please don't hate me. That's why I'm giving you 2 new chapters and updating more frequently from now on...maybe. (hopefully)**

**Chapter 5: Taguro-hime**

", and then Sakura became the youngest Hokage in Konoha history. I'll admit I was a bit jealous when it happened, but things worked out eventually. Especiallly when she proved to us that she was worthy of the title 'Hokage'..."

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_'Timeframe:The Day After Akatsuki Attack on Konoha'_

_"Neji, I can't do this! I'm not capable of running a village, I can't even keep a goldfish alive for more than a few days! Why would Tsunade-shoisho choose me to become Hokage, doesn't the council have to agree to this first. I didn't even know I was a candidit for Hokage. How come no one told me! Neji, are you even listening to me!"_

_"God woman, can't you shut up! I know you're our new Hokage and everything, but you are annoying. If Tsunade had any doubt in her mind that you weren't capable of being Hokage do you think she would have chosen you. She chose you because she knew you could handle it, because she knew you were the only one capable, because she trusted you! Sakura, she intrusted this village to you, so you could take care of it and help it prosper. She trusted-trusts you to protect it. Don't worry, I have no doubt that you can do it."_

_Together in the makeshift office in the Ninja Academy Sakura and Neji waited outside of the room the council was in. The entire council was gathered discussing the important matter at hand._

_"Neji, do you really think I can do it? Do you think I can handle such a big responsibility without messing it up?" Sakura looked hopefully at Neji with sad eyes."You might need a little help at first, but with me there I'm sure everything will be fine. I mean I have been working close with Tsunade for quite a while so I'm sure we can handle it,ok?" "OK!"_

_Talking with Neji gave Sakura a major confidence boost. With newfound determination Sakura stood up, made a fist, and made a silent vow to herself, to never ever give up and to become the best Hokage ever! "Sakura, what are you doing?" --' ..."oh!,uh...Neji, hehehe...nothing?"_

_-------------------------------------------------------_

_"So it is settled, we shall put Sakura-sama on a 1 year probation period and see if she has what it takes to handle Konoha." The Konoha council agreed and summoned Sakura into the room to be briefed. "Sakura as you know, now that you have been picked as Rokudaime Hokage you have certain duties you need to uphold. We will be putting you on probation and determine whether you are worthy of being Hokage. You will have someone of high moral standing and intelligence to supervise you for 1 year. If this person deems you worthy then you shall remain as the Hokage. Understood?"_

_Sakura, who come in confident, was now a nervous wreck,' What if she messed up and this person tells her she can't be Hokage, What if they destroy her reputation as a honorable shinobi?' "May I ask who this person supervising me is?"_

_"Of course, your superviser for the next year and the person who will determin if you are worthy of being Hokage is..._

_...Nara Shikamaru."_

_------------------------------------------------------_

"Oh lookie, we're here! Hey Sasuke, do I look ok?" asked Naruto adjusting his Hokage hat and robes. "You look fine, why?" responded Sasuke with a hint of confusion on his face. "Well I want to look presentable for the little princess,"

"UNCLE NARUTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Taguro-hime!" finished Naruto as he was tackled to the ground by a loud, energetic, pink hairball. Sasuke looked in surprise at the child who shared an unmistakable resemblence to Sakura. Absolutely everything was Sakura right down to the adorably wide forehead, the only thing off was the eyes, this childs' eyes were a bit lighter. The child's hair was the same colour, though her's was much longer, reaching all the way down to the floor, well considering the kid was probably just over 2 feet tall.

"Uncle Naruto, who's that?" asked the child pointing to Sasuke. "That, my dear, is some guy I know, his name is Sasuke-teme." Sasuke glared at Naruto and looked at the child. "Hello, Sasuke-teme-san, my name's Taguro! How are you?!" Naruto couldn't help but bust out laughing at Sasuke's expence. Sasuke glared at Naruto and stepped on his hokage's robe leaving a dirty footprint on it.

"Taguro-chan, my name is Sasuke, not Sasuke-teme, and I'm fine, thank you for asking and how are you?" The child looked away sheepishly and then looked down at her shoes in a sad disappointed manner. "Well, I'm fine, but my Daddy's not well. He got mad and yelled at me again. I didn't mean to upset him, but I don't know what I did to upset him."

Sasuke looked at her with a bit of guilt building up in his chest. It was most likely, if not all, his fault why Gaara was upset. Yeah, he knew, the minute he was the girl's eyes and heard how she described her 'Daddy', he knew it was Gaara. 'I mean why else would he be so upset over my return. He obviously feels threatened by my presence. Maybe he's worried I'll do something to Taguro. Or he's just really pissed off about what I did to Sakura... that too, maybe.' "Taguro-hime, trust me, you did nothing wrong to upset your father, he's just a little highstrung, remember? If anything, it was Sasuke-teme's fault. And don't worry I'm here to help your daddy, so there's no need to worry, ok? So why don't you go and play in the garden, while we take care of Daddy? Then we'll call you to come back and talk to him, yeah?" Taguro looked adorably thoughtful and finally looked up to Naruto. "Ok, Uncle Naruto. I trust you. Make Daddy better, alright?" Naruto nodded and the child scampered off.

"She really seems to trust you a lot. I assume Gaara is very protective of her aswell?" Naruto looked at Sasuke in slight awe, "So you figured it out, huh? Yeah, well, she's all that Gaara has left anymore. It would finally kill him to lose her too. I can understand perfectly why he would be so overprotective." As Naruto and Sasuke finally stepped through the house, Sasuke asked,"lose her too?" " Yeah, Temari was killed during the war and Kankuro is now...disabled... in a manner of speaking." "Disabled? How?"

"Well if you want to see, come here." Naruto stepped back a couple feet and went down a hallway and finally came to a stop infront of a wooden door. Sasuke, curious, followed him and they stepped through the door. Inside was a very depressing sight.

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Kankuro was staring out the window, seated in a wheelchair. As he got closer he noticed that the puppet master's right arm was gone and replaced with a beautifully detailed, laquered wooden one. Kankuro spared them a brief glance before returning to the scene outside the window. Outside was Taguro playing with the flowers in the garden.

" She likes dandilions, you know. You'd think she'd like actual flowers instead of weeds, but she is a strange child."

"How have you been doin', Kankuro?" Kankuro looked up at Naruto with an unreadable face and then glanced briefly at Sasuke. "As well as expected. I haven't had any siezures for a whole 2 weeks, so I'm guessing that's progress. Taguro's been keeping me company, and she's learning quickly. I'm giving her her own special puppet at her birthday party tonight. I know she'll like it, I made specificlly for her." Naruto sighed and put a hand on Kankuro's shoulder, "I know she's got amazing potential, but don't you think you're moving her to quickly. I mean, she's just a child, she barely turned 3 for heaven's sake! I know you worry about her and want her to be able to take care of herself, but she's still a baby."

"Naruto, I know you think Gaara and I are pushing her too much, but look at her! She's amazing, being her mother and father's child gives her such an advantage. If we start her off early who knows how great she can become. Gaara agreed that coltivating her abilities this early will ensure her a great future. She'll be strong, she'll be intelligent, she'll be powerful, she'll be a great ninja. She's been showing signs of greatness since she was born. She's a genius." Naruto looked away slightly disappointed.

"You put too much hope in the girl. I don't think Sakura would have wanted you to do this to her. When Sakura saw the telltale signs of power in this child she said she'd wait a couple of years before beginning her training. She wanted to keep Taguro as innocent as possible, for as long as possible."

" Yeah, well Sakura's dead isn't she? So she no longer has a say in how Gaara chooses to raise his daughter! He has asked me to help him raise her, and by God I will. I will make her strong so she'll be able to survive anything, and if this is the only was then so be it." Kankuro became silent and looked away.

"She is still Sakura's baby and as such she still has the final word on how her child is to be raised. I know you're bitter and angry, but you have to let this go. Taguro is your brother's child, not yours, so you should't put so much pressure on her! I know you're afraid something will happen to her, you're afraid she'll end like her mother, but Taguro has all of us to protect her, so there's no need to train her this severly." Kankuto ignored them and it looked as if nothing Naruto had said had gotten through to him. Naruto gave up and turned away angry, he swiftly stomped out of the room and down the hall. Just as Sasuke turned to leave aswell, he heard Kankuro whisper,

"Sakura had all of to protect her aswell, so what went wrong?"

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"That damn Kankuro, he really pisses me off! What gives him the right to talk about Sakura like that. I tell you, if he were able to fight me in a fair fight, I'd kick his ass into next year!"

"Kankuro really seems to care about her, though."

"Yeah, well he's going about it the wrong way, this isn't what Sakura wanted."

"Why doesn't Gaara do something about it."

"Gaara isn't home very offten, being the Kazekage and all, so Taguro spends most of her time with Kankuro. Gaara puts a lot of trust in him, too much if you ask me, and so trusts him to make his daughter strong. Neji helps too, but all the male influence isn't good for the girl."

"How is Neji involved in this?"

"Oh, well Neji was Sakura's personal body guard and assistant, so it was his duty to protect her. He feels guilty that as Sakura's bodyguard he was unable to do his job, so he's making up for it by protecting her daughter. It's cute if you ask me, seeing a grown man playing with dollies just to make a little girl happy. He also helps with Taguro's training, the taijutsu part of it. He's making her his own little project, another future genius. He's usually the one whose stuck with her most of the time seeing as how Gaara is always busy, and Kankuro's...well, you know."

"I'm surprised the girl's not tramutized."

"It's like she's got three fathers. They all want what's best for her, but I think they're all going about it the wrong way... who knows?"

" About time you idiots showed up."

"Why get mad at us? You're the one who's usually late all the time, anyway, Kakashi."

"Yes, yes, whatever... anyway, I'm finished. I'll be leaving now, I'm taking Taguro with me to get some ramen and go to the park, the air seems too tense here for a child. So I'll bring her back later or just give her Neji, if I see him or something. Later." Kakashi left through the back door, coming into the garden and calling for Taguro. The child, familiar with this sort of routine, happily agreed to 'Kaka-sama's' suggestion. She ran back inside and zoomed past Naruto and Sasuke and went into Kankuro's room. Taguro picked up a beautiful wooden doll, which she could barely hold, gave 'Kanku-papa' a hug and kiss on the cheek before she ran out into the hallway and stopped before Naruto. "Bye Uncle Naruto, I'll be back later," she put her doll down and reached up and gave Naruto a hug and a kiss aswell, then she turned to Sasuke. She looked at him curiously as if debating something in her head before she went up to him and hugged him around the knees, then picking her doll and leaving.

"She must really like you..."


	6. History Is Doomed To Repeat

**You Never Knew**

**by**

**Sesshy's-Stalker**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

**A/N: Yeah, ok so here's the 2nd one I promised, I hope you enjoy it and don't just bitch at me, ok? Even though you're all probably pissed at me because of my procrastination, I've used this time to reflect and contimplate over my writing style...pfft! just kidding, I've just been lazing around thanks to writers block and a lack of motivation, but what can you do, once a plot bunny dies (because of accidentily forgetting to feed it) and someone (meaning me...) has murdered your muse there's not much you can do about it. So again I apologize and hope you enjoy this chapter and review...that was long...right!**

**Chapter 6: History Is Doomed To Repeat **

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A cave in Mist: 3:47 a.m.:

"It's about time you woke up, I've been waiting for days...I see you're scared, good. I brought you back to life temperarly to help me summon back a certain special someone, got it?"

The frightend figrure arose from the ground that had been covered in some summoning justsu, which now crept onto the persons skin imprinting the seal. Shock was written all over this persons face, a sort of silent horror filled every crevice of their features. They stumbled forward and through long hair looked up to their summoners visage. Instant recognition bloomed upon the persons face.

" K-Ka-K-Kabut-to..?"

"Well, I'm flattered you still remember me after all these years...

...Orochimaru.."

----------------------------------------------------------(A/N: i ate all the red ones already! how am i going to finish the story now?!)

Dark rimmed eyes narrowed into slits as two figures stepped into the dark room bringing in the blinding sunlight with them. Momentary bewilderment settled upon the room's occupant as he tried to blink away the pain caused by the suns harsh rays. Not bothering to care about who had just barged into his room, Gaara just rolled over away from the light and ignored his 'visitors'.

"Gaara, I'm here waving the white flag,ok? Just give me a chance, I know you don't like talking about her, but will you please, just this once? For me? I'm here as a mediater, I will only interfere if you get violent. So, please?" Naruto stood by the foot of his bed with an expressionless face, but a pleading tone in his voice.

Gaara continued to ignore, facing away from them, with an air of irratation around him. Sasuke was hopeful, but he dreaded hearing this from Gaara, or from anyone for that matter. He would rather avoid the whole situation alltogether, but his curiousity and almost desprate need to understand got the better of him. Maybe if he left right now, he could put off this impending reality for just a while longer.

He took a step back and was about to bolt when Gaara finally spoke. It was a daunting, hollow sort of baritone, like if a souless, cold cave had a voice. This was not the angry passion filled voice he had heard before, the one that had on many an occasion tried to kill him, once just minutes before. No, this was the voice of a broken person, too far gone, like when you've hit rock bottom and somehow you've managed to find a shovel.

"I never really found out if she still loved you even after all this time. I just assumed she did, so I could still keep hating you, so I could still feel alive in someway. Is my hate meaningless? Is it for not? Should I even still try?Would she hold it against me, I wonder? I suppose she would, though you can never really say...I...assume we should try to find out, no? She was so selfish, you know. She sometimes told me she was the luckiest woman on earth, but how can you really know that, have you met every woman on earth, hmmm? I think not, but there was never any arguing with her. The lesser of two evils, I suppose... life with her or...being alone? The choice isn't so hard, I guess. Tell me which would you choose, hmmm?"

As he rose from the bed an insane sort of grin spread over his face, his babbling made even more haunting by his calm demeaner and almost mocking tone. He kept coming closer, the grin still frozen onto his face. All the while Sasuke was trying in vain to control his anger towards this monster, ' How could he just say such things about her. He has no right! No right at all!'

Sasuke looked up from the ground which he had been staring at, seething. Right in front of him was Gaara, the closer he looked at him the more he noticed how his face hadn't changed much at all. No wrinkles, no cracks, no sign of aging what so ever, probably thanks to his sand shield, and ...still no eyebrows. His love tattoo seemed a little faded and his eyes, even though they had always been, looked even more lack luster, like as if he hadn't aged a year but his eyes were aging for him...it was sad, almost.

" You look...sad. Your eyes seem so hungry, so deprate for life, so needing of emotion. Why are you filled with such pain?" Gaara asked almost inoccently.

"What?" asked Sasuke dumfounded.

"For some reason, I'll never understand, those were the first words she ever spoke to me, when first arriving in Suna." The crazy smile vanished from his face almost as if it had never been there in the first place. Sasuke stood a bit stunned and confused while Gaara just went passed them and into the hallway. They arrived in a small parlor area and sat around a coffee table. Gaara took his seat in an armchair where he crossed his legs in a dignafied manner. He moved his hands as if offering them a seat, which Naruto gladly excepted. Sasuke was still a bit unsure and just stood confused.

"Please sit. I assure you it won't eat you." spoke Gaara calmly, and quite sanely.

Sasuke sat and looked towards Naruto hoping for some sort of explaination. Naruto just shrugged and looked at Gaara. " I suppose you're here for some reason or other, but I do not really care what for. Sasuke, I will be civil to you today,as it is my daughter's birthday and the anniversery of my beloved's death, but come near me or my family again and I will not hesitate to kill you, understood. My attack on you today was in a moment of weakness and even though I was not in my right state of mind, actions do speak louder than words. So I'm sure you don't need another warning, no?"

Sasuke, angered by his arrogant tone, responded before Naruto was able to stop him. " You arrogant prick! You dare try to order me around. I am an Uchiha, you are just a monster. Something no one would ever be able to love. You think Sakura could ever really have loved you? Please! If anything, she probably felt sorry for you. She loved me first, you were just second best in her heart. She probably just latched onto you in her weakness as a way not to be alone. You were just lucky to be around, I bet she would have even taken Naruto if he had been there!"

"Sasuke, you idiot!" said Naruto through gritted teeth.

Sand crashed about violently, knocking over furniture and finally swirling around Sasuke. The sand engulfed him. Gaara was standing before him about to close his open palm and preform 'Sand Burial'.

His palm closed.

There was an unnoticeable poof of white smoke.

Then there was peace.

--------------------------------------------------------- (A/N: i really want some food...so hungry...)

Darkness.

That's all there was.

'I can't breathe!'

'Where am I?'

Blinding light!

"What in the name of hell were you thinking?! Are you honestly that fucking stupid?! God, Sasuke, don't you remember how unstable he was? Time doesn't cure crazy, don't go around messing with him!"

"Naruto? Where are we?" Naruto looked around and then looked back at Sasuke. "...I'm not really sure, I just poofed us somewhere so we could get away...I think we're lost."

"What!?!?!"

"Just kidding. Anyway, we're somewhere special. Since you pissed off Gaara, I don't think he'll tell you the story until he warms up to you, if he ever does, that is. You really ruined it for yourself, you know. You could have done it the easy way and swallowed your pride, but no, you just had to open your fat face hole and vomit all over your chances, you jerk!" Naruto started walking down the crowded street and up to Konoha Hospital. "Why are we here?" "You want to find out stuff about Sakura, right? Well what better place than where she worked. I still have some of her things in my office from when she was Hokage, we can look through them later."

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Inside it was rather crowded. There were many ninja back from missions, injured in some form or another. Among them, he recognised only a scattered few, such as that dog boy from Kurenai's team, he could never remember his name. He saw Lee and to his surprise Kakashi and Taguro were there talking with one of the head male nurses, which he remembered as that Konohamaru kid who used to hang all over Naruto.

"Hey Konohamaru! ...hey Kakashi...again. Why are you here?"

"Taguro-hime wanted to visit Konohamaru-kun before we went to the park."

"Right, anywho, good luck with that, we'll see you later...Konohamaru, we're going to need Sakura's key."

"Sure thing, Naruto-niisan...Sasuke-san.." Konohamaru bowed and swiftly left. Sasuke noticed that besides the obvious growth in height, Konohamaru still retained some boyish charm about him. He had a young face, but had greatly matured in his physicals stature, he was lanky, but not overly so and he still had the same hair he remembered.

"You know, when Sakura became Hokage, Konohamaru instantly attached himself to her, became her apprentice and followed her around like a puppy. I think he even had a small crush on her at one point, clearly from the admiration he had of her. I thought he was going to end up following in my footsteps, but somehow he ended up making Sakura his idol. He became a medic-nin, one of a select few to be trained by the Rokudaime Hokage herself, it's quite a thing to be proud of. She's only ever trained 3 people, one KIA, and one MIA, the only one left is Konohamaru."

"So who were the other two?"

"The KIA was...Hinata, and the MIA is one of Konohamaru's classmates, Soma. Hinata was her first apprentice, she died during the war that took Temari, Choji, Kurenai, and half the Hyuuga clan."

"What war? The one with the Akatsuki?" Sasuke saw how Naruto's face suddenly changed to a sorrowful expression, almost as if it pained him to think about it.

"That one took a lot a of dear people, but not as many as the one that took many of our friends ...and Sakura"

"You had two wars? I'm surprised the village is still standing."

Again Naruto looked sad, which was quickly taken over by a far off look.

"Well, you see, the first war with Akatsuki did a lot of damage and left us Hokageless and so Sakura took over. There were eight years of peace and Konoha had never been at its finest. But then one year ago...

_Flashback:_

_It was October the 1st, only four days till Taguro's birthday, which was on the 5th. Said child was running around her mother's office as said mother worked on writing and signing important papers and such. The child's pink haired mother looked up from her work and stared at her little angel. Love and admiration shined on Sakura's face as she saw her little joy in the world eat dirt from one of the potted plants in her office._

_"Taguro-chan, com'ere."_

_The small child looked up from her mouthful of dirt and wobbled over to her mother. Taguro went up to her and sat on her lap. Sakura watched as her child gupled down the last of the dirt in her mouth. She wiped the muddy dirt off her face and kissed her on the nose._

_"Was it tasty?" The child giggled and nodded her head excitedly._

_"Good."_

_---------------_

_"Kazekage-sama, we need you to sign the last of these documents before you leave for Konoha."_

_The Kazekage looked behind him at the chunnin who had a 2 inch thick stack of papers in his arms. He sighed thinking about how long it would take to finish them. So much for arriving in Konoha tomorrow night._

_'I hope Sakura forgives me for being a little late.'_

_Again, he sighed thinking about the world of hurt that was waiting for him in Konoha as he walked back into his office to sign papers._

_----------------------------------------------------_

_It was October the 2nd, only 3 days until Taguro's birthday, which was on the 5th. Said child was with her mother, they were on their way to go see all the people at the hospital, the other place mommy worked. As they stepped out of the office, the child ran up to one of her most favorite persons in the world, Neji-papa. Neji lifted her into his arms as the child talked animatedly about what they were going to do today._

_"Neji-papa, we're going to Hospital, mommy pwomised we could get wamen with Uncle Nawuto when we're done!"_

_"Sounds fine. Sakura-sama, a massage arrived from Suna this morning, it's from the Kazekage."_

_Sakura's eyes lit up with happiness, then worry as she thought about what could have happened to warrant a massage from the Kazekage if he was supposed to be on his way to Konoha right now._

_"Give it to me." The scroll was handed over and she read through it quickly. _

_Neji looked at Sakura with worry, thinking the same thing she had._

_There was a pause of silence._

_"THAT BASTARD!!!!!!"_

_-------------_

_Gaara sneezed and swore he heard his wife's yell, he looked outside of his carrige and only saw desert._

_"Must have been my imagination..."_

_Then the earth shook with a slight, almost unnoticeable tremor._

_"...maybe not."_

_The Kazekage settled back into his seat and began to brood upon the fate that awaited him._

_-----------_

_Neji looked down, out of the gaint hole in the wall, to the even more giant crater in the ground. 'Good luck, Gaara. I'll miss ya man.' thought Neji as he saw Sakura mumble obscene, angry things about Gaara._

_"Neji-papa, why mommy mad?" Taguro looked at him with big curious eyes._

_"Um...it's nothing important, don't worry about it. Let's go the hospital now and give you're mother time to seethe, yeah?"_

_"OK!"_

_Neji left the Hokage Tower with Taguro riding on his shoulders, playing with his hair._

_-----------------------------------------------_

_It was October the 3rd, only two days till Taguro's birthday, which was on the 5th. Said child's father was on his way to see his little princess and be there for her birthday. Luckly, when he had gotten the paperwork, he worked through the night so he could at least not be so late. Right now he and his caravan were on they're way to Konoha, only a few hours away from his family. They would be there by nightfall._

_He was excited to finally see his wife and daughter after 2 months, but there was an apprehensive nagging feeling in the back of his head telling him something non too pleasant was going to happen._

_He hoped to god, what he felt was going to happen, didn't._

_-------------_

_"Sakura-sama, we have most of the preparations ready for Taguro-hime's birthday party." Sakura's assistant, Hinata followed her around as she surveyed the supplies in the storage room for her daughters party. _

_"Ok, what else do we need?"_

_"Well, we ne- "Sakura-sama!!" Rushing to them was none other than her little protege, Konohamaru._

_"Yes Konohamaru, what is it?" Konohamaru stopped and while trying to catch his breath, the ground shook and smoke could be seen from somewhere in the village._

_"Sakura-sama, there's been a breach in Konoha's defences!"_

_"Who's invading?!"_

_"That's the problem, there seems to be no enemy as of yet, but multiple expolsions have been going off thoughout the city. Many buildings and residential areas have been hit. We have confirmed 9 explosions so far, there's an increase of 4 or so explosions every 3 minutes with 10 second intervals between each one. They go off in rings, beginning from the borders of the village, going inward towards the Tower."_

_"What areas have been hit so far?" asked Sakura as they headed towards the Tower. _

_"Many of the clan estates, parts of the market areas, and training grounds near the residential areas." When he said 'clan estates', Hinata's breath hitched._

_"Was one of the estates hit, the Hyuuga estate?"_

_"I'm afraid so, on my way here I saw Neji-san, he told me he was heading that way. We've confirmed that the main house was hit, I'm sorry Hinata-san."_

_"Wait, if Neji went there, then where is Taguro?" Panic began to take over._

_"Don't worry, he told me he gave her to Shikamaru-san to take to the safehouses, they've begun evacuating the villagers."_

_While running to the Tower, the enemy finally made their enterence. Sakura began to panic, her motherly instincts began to kick in and the deperate need to find and protect her child became insistant. She increased her speed as her company followed, the enemy unoticably came up to them, only a couple of meters behind. Hinata, sensing something, looked behind._

_"What? The Akatsuki?!Bu-but didn't we already destroy them!"_

_"What?!" _

_The group stopped and were surround by at least 10 Akatsuki. "What do you want?!" What looked to be the leader, stepped forward. The person removed their hat and underneath was a head of blonde hair._

_"I'm sure you remember me, yeah?"_

_-------------_

_'...run...'_

_**'Live'**_

_'...run...'_

_**'Survive'**_

_'...run...'_

_**'Fight'**_

_'...run!...'_

_**'...RUN!...'**_

_"...RUN!"_

_"Run, Sakura-sama! We need to get you to safety!" _

_The Akatsuki had grown over the years, keeping on the downlow, off of anyone's radar. So it had been impossible to predict this outcome. At the moment, their main goal: to capture the Rokudaime Hokage, for reasons unknown. But one thing was clear, if the Hokage was taken, the ramifications would be disastrous. The five main ninja countries, which were now at peace would soon fall into conflict and massive wars could break out. On the personal note, a certain crazy somebody wouldn't be very happy to know that his wife had been kidnapped by an evil organization with non too pleasant intentions._

_A dead end._

_"Hinata, we must fight to escape. Konohamaru, I trust you, we'll try to hold them off for a bit while you get away. I want you to find Taguro and make sure she's safe and kept that way!"_

_"But wha-" "Don't argue with me! It's an order! Got it!"_

_"Ha-Hai!"_

_"Com'n Hinata!" _

_--------------------------------------------------------------- _

_It was October the 4th, only one day till Taguro's birthday, which was on the 5th. _

_'...beep...'_

_'...beep...'_

_'...beep...'_

_"Where is she?! I need to see her!"_

_"Calm down Neji-san, we're doing all we can to keep her alive! Please just leave!!"_

_'Hinata's dead and Sakura's dying...and it's all my fault. If only I had been there to keep her safe, like I'm supposed to! Damnitt, damnitt, damnitt, GOD FUCKING DAMNITT!!!' The Hokage had been found half alive, 2 miles from one of the nearest safehouses. A mile behind her, Hinata and 5 Akastuki had been found dead, with 1 Akatsuki still alive, who was now being held for questioning. A heavy battle had accured, apperant by the numerous craters, demolished trees, amputated limbs, and corpses that litered the area. For some reason the Akatsuki had retreated, it was assumed they believed the Hokage dead, so there was no point to remain anymore._

_Sakura had somehow managed to crawl the remaining mile and had been found by patrolling jounin. _

_She was now in critical condition. _

_The outlook was not good._

_----------_

_He had recieved an urgent message from Konoha saying that they had been attacked. Upon arriving he had been rushed to the hospital, where a most painful sight welcomed him. Shikamaru, Neji, and Naruto had been waiting for him in the hospital's waiting room to give him the news that his wife had been severly injured during a raid by the Akatsuki. Taguro had been left with Konohamaru for the time being so as to not upset the child. _

_Gaara had been the only person premitted to see her. It was horrible, the way she was hooked up to all of those machines, tubes coming in and out of her. He noticed that the heart moniter had been beeping eraticly from time to time. _

_It hurt._

_It hurt so much._

_Like a piece of his heart, his very soul had been ripped off._

_If this emotional pain had been physical, it would have been the equivalent of starving to death, but not being able to die._

_----------_

_Taguro had been brought to the hospital to see her Daddy a few hours after he had arrived. She didn't quite understand what was going on. She had asked Konohamaru-kun, but he had told her nothing, only looked at her with a grim face. But her childlike reasoning told her something was very wrong, it was the same feeling she got when Uncle Naruto had returned form a place called 'Sound', whatever that was, and he had been cut up and beat up real bad. Mommy told her that some people and a man named Kabuto had done this to Uncle Naruto because he had gone looking for some Sasuke-person. He had done that before, but like all those times he had never found him. Uncle Naruto had stayed in the Hospital for three whole weeks and Mommy was very afraid he would die, but he didn't because Mommy is the best doctor in the whole wide world._

_"Daddy, where's Mommy? Is Uncle Nawuto hurt again? Don't look so sad, Mommy can fix him up weal good, wemember!"_

_Daddy didn't say anything, he just looked her with an even sadder face. The atmosphere darkened considerably, and confusion spiked even further. _

_"Daddy, what's wrong?!"_

_He didn't look at her this time, he just took her hand and took her to see her Mommy._

_----------------------------------------------_

_It was October the 5th, today was Taguro's birthday...today was the day her Mommy died._


End file.
